The Buffalo Bills coaching staff did a phenomenal job of building the running game around Tyrod Taylor in 2016. Especially in the red zone. Once the Bills entered the red zone, they almost always went into the Pistol Formation.
The formation makes the defense account for every offensive threat which included Tyrod. Much like old school option offenses of years past, if a defender was undiscipline the offense could easily gain chunk yards.

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Having Tyrod in the Pistol also allowed Lynn to run a blocking concept he was familiar with. As a former running back of the Denver Broncos, in the Shanahan/Gibbs system, Lynn is well versed in zone blocking. The Pistol allowed Lynn to mesh zone run concepts with ‘option’ tags.

https://youtu.be/WmEVRnnxwCs
Tags such as speed, load, triple and even veer read/option looks became a staple in the red zone for the Bills and were nearly impossible to stop. The tags stressed defensive players’ responsibilities and eye discipline, as there was often deceit built into the play. Take a look at some of those plays.https://youtu.be/xwh5pFqmjlo

In case you haven’t heard the news, Cover 1 has joined Grandstand Sports Network and we have locked in media passes for the Buffalo Bills Training Camp at St. John Fisher. With that brings a lot of responsibility and most importantly the opportunity to bring you top notch content IMMEDIATELY. Cover 1 contributors Kevin Massare and Nate Geary were embedded at camp and they brought you the following footage. Take a look:

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New offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn called a beautifully blocked trap play to spring Shady into the end zone from 24 yards out. Mccoy went on to eclipse 100 yards on the ground for the first time in 2016.

The Bills’ #1 rushing attack gained 183 yards and 1 TD on 34 attempts vs the Bengals in week 11. It was another game where the running game relied on advancing the ball along the perimeter. Of their 183 yards, 103 were gained outside the tight end, including five of the eight missed tackles forced.

Starting running back LeSean McCoy injured his thumb at the end of the first half and didn’t return, and he was the only player to get into the end zone. Touchdown Mike Gillislee carried the load and finished the game with 72 yards and managed to average 5.1 per clip. He was the highest graded offensive player, per Pro Football Focus, and once again the ground game was the catalyst for a Bills win in Cincinnati.

The Seattle Seahawks made things tough on the Bills running game, but at times Buffalo dominated in the trenches. The Bills relied on their outside running game to outflank Seattle. Buffalo gained 117 of their 160 yards on runs in the four gaps outside the tackles (C & D gaps). Their inside run game was shut down, as the Bills only gained 15 yards inside the tackles. 75 of their rushing yards were gained after contact which is remarkable considering the Seahawks were one of the best tackling teams in the NFL. Shady alone forced eight missed tackles. Taylor and Gillislee were the only runners to get into the end zone. It was a tough night in the win/loss column, but the run game was still successful.